


In a Town Called Torchwood...

by The_Hypothesis



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Western, Wild West AU, Work In Progress, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:08:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27583841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hypothesis/pseuds/The_Hypothesis
Summary: Captain Jack Harkness has lived his life as a wanted man. In fact, he has lived many lives as a wanted man. When he finds himself in a small mining town out West, will Jack finally find the life that will kill him?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	In a Town Called Torchwood...

“What do you think he’ll request for his last meal?”

The two men dressed in dark uniforms watched the other man sleep from a safe distance in the hall. Bars divided them from him, but they had already learned their lesson that he was not to be trusted. The man lying on the bench had a worn hat tilted forward to keep the soft moonlight out of his eyes that bled through the small window of his cell. 

“He’s not getting supper.” The second man snarled through a heavy Yonkers accent. “Traitors don’t get supper. The only thing this bastard deserves is a cold, hard death on the gallows.” The man spit through the bars, onto the floor of the cell. It was difficult to see where it had landed in the darkness. 

“He looks too peaceful for a man who knows what he’s done. Only evil can sleep sound when facing execution for his sins.” The first man offered as he wiped the sweat accruing on his brow. But his hand jerked as he grabbed for the arm of his company. The man on the bench had begun to stir.

They waited with bated breath.

But the man slept on.

“Come on. The less he’s awake, the less he’s trouble for us.”

The two men walked away. Their steps echoed down the hall as if they knew they would all too soon be a distant memory.

Suddenly, the man on the bench lifted the hat that rested precariously over his eyes. The guards were gone.

He stood and pressed his hands against the warm stone wall as he glared out the small window of his cell. There stood the gallows in the courtyard, mocking the last several hours he had until he would stand upon them and wait for the lever to be pulled.

He could no longer sleep. 

Sleeping was for the dead.

\-----

The sun was blinding as he was dragged from his cell to the courtyard. The good people of the city he was once fond of had gathered in the space to watch him die. He stumbled up the steps of the gallows, shoved roughly by the hands holding him as if they could not get this over fast enough.

Birds called as they circled softly overhead, but the sun was so bright that he could not see them as he looked up. What a tragedy it was to have to die on such a pleasant day.

“Does the prisoner have any last words?”

There was a pause as the crowd held its breath.

“No.” He said as if he were bored already and then took his place to have the rope tied around his neck.

The morbid ceremony continued.

“ _Here stands Captain Jack Harkness, to be executed for treason to his country and desertion of his troops, unless anyone hereby comes forward to speak for the convicted_.”

The silence was deafening.

Even the birds were gone.

Jack took one last look into the sun before everything went black.

\-----

He gasped for air.

Everything was still dark, but he could _feel_ the darkness. His hands reached forward into the black and touched something hard. It was a wooden surface. Jack tried to move his body but was surrounded by the same rough surfaces. He kicked hard and a small crack of light broke through. He kicked again and there was a loud clattering as broken wood planks hit the ground. Moonlight once again filled his eyes to be able to see. 

Jack climbed out of his own coffin and off the cart of the groundskeeper who was damned with the task of burying him. With one last look around in the field full of crosses, he took off running. Jack left everything he came to know. He had lost count of the amount of times he had to do this. 

As the sun began to rise behind him in the East, Jack ran for his new life.

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
